Former Valve employee seeks $3.1M in trans. discrimination suit - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE=Zeke129;50385184]You can be fired for no reason, but you [i]cannot[/i] be fired for refusing to work for free.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]"utilizing people who were interested in their products to provide translation services for free."[/QUOTE] this is less "You will work for free" and more "we don't really need paid employee's because we have volunteer programs helping us do that just fine" least from what I get from it

[QUOTE=Oscar Lima Echo;50385204]I've never been good at US geography, but what the fuck. This woman was allowed to work from the complete opposite side of the country, a goddamn 4400 km or 2600 miles, and thinks it would be a good idea to complain to HR to change things in the company.[/QUOTE] LA and Bellevue (Seattle) are both Pacific coast.

Uhhh. I'd wager there's several reasons she was fired. She generally couldn't function in the office, so she was already working from home. Valve wanted to move the position back and into the Washington office, and they already knew she couldn't work in-house. [IMG]https://hostr.co/file/WcnAVlNkcEVi/wat.PNG[/IMG] I know this is pretty cynical, especially considering I had aspergers as a child, but who in their right mind would choose to keep the socially inept, anxiety ridden person who has such a problem socializing with people they need to work at home, IF you can move the position to get someone that's somewhat equally competent and can actually work with the team? [editline]24th May 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Karmal Khan;50385220]LA and Bellevue (Seattle) are both Pacific coast.[/QUOTE] Yeah but she was for the Washington office, not Seattle.

[QUOTE=J!NX;50385219]this is less "You will work for free" and more "we don't really need paid employee's because we have volunteer programs helping us do that just fine" least from what I get from it[/QUOTE] If I got it right, she is talking about the Steam Translation Server and this is all directly linked to the complaints by the Spanish Team raised [URL="http://rebrn.com/re/how-a-whole-language-of-the-steam-translation-server-was-shut-do-2404661/"]a few months ago[/URL] (basically a protest where it stopped having strings translated for a while), which she (in theory) raised to Thorsten.

[QUOTE=Oscar Lima Echo;50385252] Yeah but she was for the Washington office, not Seattle.[/QUOTE] Valve is in Bellevue (Near Seattle), which are both located in Washington state.

There's something really fishy with throwing a lawsuit at a company that fired you and asking for that much money in the process.

I was under the impression that Valve didn't have a management structure.

Sneaking suspicion she was told she was being made irrelevant in favor of the all volunteer translation service. She didn't like that and complained, then a few days later she found out just how irrelevant she had become.

[QUOTE=glitchvid;50385277]Valve is in Bellevue (Near Seattle), which are both located in Washington state.[/QUOTE] Oh shit. What kind of retard made these names. Washington the state and the city, obviously not related. She still worked a rather large distance away, you can't really expect a company to let you move over a thousand miles or 1800 km, and then make a commotion with HR.

If they didn't fire her with a valid reason, does it really matter (legally) what else she might've done? I don't want to speculate who's right or wrong, but valve needs to have its shit in order either way.

so why exactly are they going for $3.1 million?

[QUOTE=Mio Akiyama;50385307]so why exactly are they going for $3.1 million?[/QUOTE] "The suit is seeking $1 million for general damages, $1 million for special damages, $150,000 for unpaid wages and penalties, and $1 million for loss of earnings. The translator is also asking for punitive damages to be decided by the court."

[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;50385306]If they didn't fire her with a valid reason, does it really matter (legally) what else she might've done? I don't want to speculate who's right or wrong, but valve needs to have its shit in order either way.[/QUOTE] You don't need a specific reason to fire someone in the US, but you just can't fire them for being a protected class.

[QUOTE=Oscar Lima Echo;50385300]She still worked a rather large distance away, you can't really expect a company to let you move over a thousand miles or 1800 km, and then make a commotion with HR.[/QUOTE] Valve once had an entirely separate studio operating in California (Valve South/Turtle Rock), so it's not a big issue. Also, [URL="https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Bellevue,+WA/Los+Angeles,+CA/@40.602838,-123.96219,5.75z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x54906bcfa3a66041:0xbacf5482ead00765!2m2!1d-122.2006786!2d47.610377!1m5!1m1!1s0x80c2c75ddc27da13:0xe22fdf6f254608f4!2m2!1d-118.2436849!2d34.0522342!3e4"]do some research[/URL], google maps is free.

[QUOTE=glitchvid;50385324]Valve once had an entirely separate studio operating in California (Valve South/Turtle Rock), so it's not a big issue. Also, [URL="https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Bellevue,+WA/Los+Angeles,+CA/@40.602838,-123.96219,5.75z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x54906bcfa3a66041:0xbacf5482ead00765!2m2!1d-122.2006786!2d47.610377!1m5!1m1!1s0x80c2c75ddc27da13:0xe22fdf6f254608f4!2m2!1d-118.2436849!2d34.0522342!3e4"]do some research[/URL], google maps is free.[/QUOTE] ??? What does that have to do with anything, she wasn't working at that studio. The post you're quoting has the right range.

[QUOTE=Oscar Lima Echo;50385344]??? What does that have to do with anything, she wasn't working at that studio.[/QUOTE] It establishes that Valve has historically not had issue with employees working from "large distances" away from their headquarters.

[QUOTE=TheDrunkenOne;50385111]They should make the supervisor pay those 3M tbh, not the company itself. Fuckin make him bankrupt[/QUOTE] While I do think being transphobic makes you an asshole, referring to someone as an "it" is definitely not a 3 million dollar offense. Not to mention the 3 million damages are not all related to the transphobic comments.

[QUOTE=glitchvid;50385355]It establishes that Valve has historically not had issue with employees working from "large distances" away from their headquarters.[/QUOTE] Well obviously they don't have a problem with it, they let her move all the way to LA, but she should have appreciated how lucky she was to move so far away and always work from home.

Hmmm, let's see if there may be any other reason for them to let her go..... [QUOTE]Sometime in 2012, the litigant planned to undergo gender transition and told the company she needed to move to Los Angeles, where her doctors were located and where she could recover while still working. Valve accommodated her request, allowing her to work from home in LA to recover from the surgery, but also because of "related disabilities including depression." The company required the translator to be reclassified as an independent contractor as a condition of the move, according to the suit.[/QUOTE] Point 1: When you are "reclassified as an independent contractor", you are no longer an employee of the company, and they can end your contract whenever they like. [QUOTE]The translator continued to work at Valve until earlier this year, when she filed a complaint about unpaid translators whom she felt were being exploited and lured to work for free based on "false promises made by her supervisor," according to the suit.[/QUOTE] Point 2: She worked for them for FOUR years as an independent contractor to accommodate issues related to her being transgender. If anything, that puts the nail in the "discrimination" coffin because if it were really an issue of discrimination, they most likely would not have agreed to this accommodation. Also, by filing the complaint about the way valve sources translations, she stuck her nose where it didn't belong as an independent contractor. So Valve decided to terminate her contract and bring the position back in-house, based on this part: [QUOTE]Within days of filing a written complaint about the practice, the translator was fired, the lawsuit says. Valve said at the time that her job was being relocated to Washington. But when the translator offered to move, Valve declined to keep her on, according to the suit.[/QUOTE] Also, I would like to note that nowhere does it say that she filed a complaint with HR about her "supervisor" calling her "it". Had she done that and they terminated her contract, that would be a different story.

[QUOTE=TheDrunkenOne;50385111]They should make the supervisor pay those 3M tbh, not the company itself. Fuckin make him bankrupt[/QUOTE] Valve is at fault if they covered for a supervisor.

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;50385278]There's something really fishy with throwing a lawsuit at a company that fired you and asking for that much money in the process.[/QUOTE] You tend to ask for a shitload of money in damages or whatever so you don't look like a bellend when the amount mandated to be paid to you is haggled down to something actually reasonable, rather than you futilely haggling up. This is bartering 101, it applies even when making legal claims.

[QUOTE=Oscar Lima Echo;50385322]You don't need a specific reason to fire someone in the US, but you just can't fire them for being a protected class.[/QUOTE] Thats not true, not all states are at-will.

[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;50385370]While I do think being transphobic makes you an asshole, referring to someone as an "it" is definitely not a 3 million dollar offense. Not to mention the 3 million damages are not all related to the transphobic comments.[/QUOTE] Are there not people who wish to be called it? Provided this actually happened for all we know it could of been a matter of trying to avoid offense by using a neutral pronoun.

[QUOTE=Map in a box;50385422]Thats not true, not all states are at-will.[/QUOTE] Actually I think both Cali and Washington are not at-will states.

[QUOTE=mooman1080;50385438]Are there not people who wish to be called it? Provided this actually happened for all we know it could of been a matter of trying to avoid offense by using a neutral pronoun.[/QUOTE] Uh, 'they' exists. 'It' is extremely demeaning.

[QUOTE=KillRay;50385450]Uh, 'they' exists. 'It' is extremely demeaning.[/QUOTE] They? "Hey 'they' could you do this translation for me?" Makes no sense

[QUOTE=rndgenerator;50385459]They? "Hey 'they' could you do this translation for me?" Makes no sense[/QUOTE] You can use their name, or hey 'you'

'It' can you translate it for me doesnt either

[QUOTE=rndgenerator;50385459]They? "Hey 'they' could you do this translation for me?" Makes no sense[/QUOTE] ...use their name? or, if confused, "hey, could you do this translation for me?" what is the confusion [editline]24th May 2016[/editline] ninja'd

[QUOTE=KillRay;50385450]Uh, 'they' exists. 'It' is extremely demeaning.[/QUOTE] Like I said, some people want to be called that, but perhaps it's wrong to think that a possibility.